Information Input

This application is a continuation of International Patent Application No. PCT/CN2024/102741 filed on Jun. 28, 2024, entitled “METHOD, APPARATUS, DEVICE AND STORAGE MEDIUM FOR INFORMATION INPUT”, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Example embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the computer field, and more particularly, to information input.

In recent years, with the development of technologies, large-screen electronic devices such as televisions also support the installation of a wide variety of applications. Unlike input processes of mobile terminals, users often need to use additional controllers (e.g., remote control devices) during the input to large screen electronic devices. How to improve the efficiency of information input to large-screen electronic devices is the focus of attention to people.

In a first aspect of the present disclosure, a method of information input is provided. The method comprises: presenting an information input component in a display device, the information input component comprising a plurality of input positions for inputting different portions of information; in response to a first input position of the plurality of input positions being in an input state, determining a first set of elements matching the first input position from a plurality of elements associated with an input panel based at least on a first element which has been input at a second input position of the plurality of input positions; presenting the first set of elements in a first style in the input panel to indicate that the first set of elements are in a selectable state; moving an indicator between the first set of elements displayed by the input panel based on a movement instruction received via a controller associated with the display device; and in response to receiving an input instruction via the controller, inputting a second element corresponding to the indicator to the first input position.

In a second aspect of the present disclosure, an apparatus for information input is provided. The apparatus comprises: a component presenting module configured to present an information input component in a display device, the information input component comprising a plurality of input positions for inputting different portions of information; an element determining module configured to, in response to a first input position of the plurality of input positions being in an input state, determine a first set of elements matching the first input position from a plurality of elements associated with an input panel based at least on a first element which has been input at a second input position of the plurality of input positions; an element presenting module configured to present the first set of elements in a first style in the input panel to indicate that the first set of elements are in a selectable state; an element switching module configured to move an indicator between the first set of elements displayed by the input panel based on a movement instruction received via a controller associated with the display device; and an element input module configured to, in response to receiving an input instruction via the controller, input a second element corresponding to the indicator to the first input position.

In a third aspect of the present disclosure, a display device is provided. The device comprises: at least one processing unit; and at least one memory coupled to the at least one processing unit and storing instructions executable by the at least one processing unit, the instructions, when executed by the at least one processing unit, causing the display device to perform the method according to the first aspect of the present disclosure.

In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a computer readable storage medium is provided. The computer readable storage medium has a computer program stored thereon, wherein the computer program is executable by a processor to implement the method according to the first aspect of the present disclosure.

It should be understood that what is described in this Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the implementations of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features disclosed herein will become easily understandable through the following description.

The embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some embodiments of the present disclosure have been illustrated. However, it should be understood that the present disclosure may be implemented in various manners, and thus should not be construed to be limited to embodiments disclosed herein. On the contrary, those embodiments are provided for the thorough and complete understanding of the present disclosure. It should be understood that the drawings and embodiments of the present disclosure are only used for illustration, rather than limiting the protection scope of the present disclosure.

It should be noted that the headings of any sections/subsections provided herein are not limiting. Various embodiments are described throughout this specification, and any type of embodiment may be included under any section/subsection. Furthermore, embodiments described in any section/subsection may be combined in any manner with any other embodiments described in the same section/subsection and/or different sections/subsections.

As used herein, the term “comprise” and its variants are to be read as open terms that mean “include, but is not limited to.” The term “based on” is to be read as “based at least in part on.” The term “one embodiment” or “the embodiment” is to be read as “at least one embodiment.” The term “some embodiments” is to be read as “at least some embodiments.” Other definitions, explicit and implicit, might be further included below. The terms “first”, “second” and the like may refer to different or identical objects. Other explicit and implicit definitions may also be included below.

The embodiments of the present disclosure may involve user data, the acquisition and/or use of data, etc. These aspects shall comply with corresponding laws and regulations and relevant provisions. In the embodiments of this disclosure, all the collection, acquisition, treatment, processing, forwarding and use of data are performed with the user's knowledge and confirmation. Accordingly, when implementing respective embodiments of the present disclosure, the user should be informed of the type, scope of use, and use scenario of the data or information involved in the present disclosure in an appropriate manner in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, and user authorization should be obtained. The specific notification and/or authorization methods may vary according to the actual situation and application scenarios, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this regard.

In the solutions in this specification and embodiments, the processing of personal information, if involved, will be processed on the premise of legal basis (such as obtaining the consent of the personal information subject, or necessary to fulfill the contract, etc.), and will only be processed within the specified or agreed scope. The user's refusal to process personal information other than the necessary information required for basic functions will not affect the user's use of basic functions.

As briefly mentioned above, according to conventional interaction solutions, information input by a user to an application installed in a television mainly relies on a remote control device. When the user performs information input to an application installed in a television by using a remote control device, frequent complex operations need to be performed through the remote controller, so that the efficiency of information input is low.

The embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for information input. According to this solution, an information input component may be presented in a display device, the information input component comprising a plurality of input positions for inputting different portions of information. Further, in response to a first input position of the plurality of input positions being in an input state, a first set of elements matching the first input position may be determined from a plurality of elements associated with an input panel based at least on a first element which has been input at a second input position of the plurality of input positions.

Further, the first set of elements may be presented in a first style in the input panel to indicate that the first set of elements are in a selectable state. Further, an indicator may be moved between the first set of elements displayed by the input panel based on a movement instruction received via a controller associated with the display device. Accordingly, a second element corresponding to the indicator may be input to the first input position in response to receiving an input instruction via the controller.

In this way, according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the movement instruction received by the display device may move between elements in a predetermined set of elements when the user performs information input to the display device through the controller. Therefore, the embodiments of the present disclosure may reduce the number of selectable elements in the information input process and improve the efficiency of information input.

Various example implementations of the solution will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 FIG. 1 FIG. 100 100 110 shows a schematic diagram of an example environmentin which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. As shown in, the example environmentmay include a display device.

100 110 120 120 120 140 110 In this example environment, the electronic devicemay run an applicationthat supports information input. The applicationmay be any suitable type of application requiring information input, examples of which may include but are not limited to: video applications, social networking applications, or other appropriate applications. A user may interact with the applicationvia a controllercommunicatively connected with the display device.

100 120 110 150 120 1 FIG. In the environmentof, if the applicationis active, the display devicemay present an interfacefor supporting information input through the application.

110 130 120 110 110 In some embodiments, the electronic devicecommunicates with a serverto enable the provision of services to the application. The electronic devicemay be any type of device to be controlled by a controller, such as a television, a projector, or the like. The electronic devicemay include, for example, a display device, and the display device may include an image generating component and an optical display component, configured to generate a corresponding image on a screen or a curtain of the display device.

130 130 130 120 110 The servermay be an independent physical server, or a server cluster or distributed system composed of multiple physical servers, or may further be a cloud server providing basic cloud computing services such as cloud services, cloud databases, cloud computing, cloud functions, cloud storage, network services, cloud communications, middleware services, domain name services, security services, content distribution networks, and big data and artificial intelligence platforms. The servermay include, for example, a computing system/server such as a mainframe, an edge computing node, a computing device in a cloud environment, or the like. The servermay provide background services for the applicationwhich supports virtual scenarios in the display device.

130 110 130 110 A communication connection may be established between the serverand the display device. Communication connections may be established in a wired or wireless manner. Communication connections may include but are not limited to Bluetooth connections, mobile network connections, universal serial bus (USB) connections, Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) connections, etc. The embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited in this regard. In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the serverand the display devicemay implement signaling interaction through the communication connection between them.

100 It should be understood that the structure and function of various elements in the environmentare described for illustrative purposes only and do not imply any limitation on the scope of the present disclosure.

Some example embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 2 FIGS.A toC 1 FIG. 1 FIG. 200 200 200 200 110 200 200 200 illustrate example interfacesA toC according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The interfacesA andB may be provided, for example, by the electronic deviceshown in. ExamplesA,B, andC are described below with reference to.

110 200 2 FIG.A The electronic devicemay construct the information input interfaceA as presented inon a display device.

200 110 205 The information interfaceA in the electronic devicecomprises an information input componentfor inputting information, the information input component comprising a plurality of input positions for inputting different portions of information.

2 FIG.A 205 200 As an example, as shown in, the information input componentin the information interfaceA comprises a date input component, and the plurality of input positions are used for inputting different numbers in a date.

205 Specifically, the information input componentcomprises four input positions for inputting a year, two input positions for inputting a month, and two input positions for inputting a date within a corresponding month.

2 FIG.A 206 110 140 110 206 110 210 As an example, as shown in, when the user inputs a date to a first input positionin the electronic devicethrough the controller, the electronic devicemay limit an imputable element of the first input positionto 1 or 2 according to a current date. Further, the electronic devicemay present elements 1 and 2 in an input panelin a first style (e.g., highlighting, bolding, etc.) to indicate that the elements 1 and 2 are in a selectable state.

110 210 As another example, when information input is performed in year 3000, 3 is further allowed to be input and 1 is not allowed. Alternatively, the electronic devicemay not limit the input element, for example, and present all elements in the input panelin the first style.

210 210 2 FIG.A When the elements 1 and 2 in the input panelare presented in the first style, other elements will be presented in a second style to indicate that a second set of elements are in an unselectable state. As shown in, elements 0, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 in the input panelare all presented in the second style.

110 140 206 110 140 When the electronic devicereceives a rightward movement instruction sent by the user through the controller, a movement indicator will hover over the element 2 to represent that the element 2 is currently selected as an input element of the first input position. It is noteworthy that, when the electronic devicecontinues to receive rightward movement instructions from the controller, the indicator will be jumped to the element 1, to ensure that the movement indicator jumps between limited elements.

210 110 140 In this way, the embodiments of the present disclosure can limit the number of elements in the input panelwhen the user performs information input to the electronic device. Accordingly, when the user inputs the movement instruction through the controller, only the elements in the predetermined set of elements can be selected. Therefore, the embodiments of the present disclosure can effectively reduce the complexity of user interaction operation on the electronic device, thereby improving the efficiency of information input.

2 FIG.A 110 206 207 As shown in, when the electronic devicereceives an input instruction, the element 2 is input to the input position, and an input positionmay be further set to an input state.

110 207 110 206 207 206 207 In some embodiments, the electronic devicemay determine one or more input positions associated with the input position. For example, the electronic devicemay determine that the input positionis associated with the input positionbased on an information correlation between different input positions. For example, the input positionis for inputting a first digit of the year, and the input positionis for inputting a second digit of the year.

110 206 207 Further, since the second digit of the year may depend on the first digit of the year, the electronic devicemay determine that the input positionis associated with the input position.

In some examples, one input position may also be associated with other multiple input positions, for example. For example, for a third digit of the year, the digit may, for example, be associated with the first digit and the second digit of the year at the same time.

2 FIG.B 2 FIG.B 206 207 207 110 207 As shown in, after the element is input in the first input position, the second input positionis set to an input state to prompt the user to input information in the second input position. For example, where ta current year is 2024 for example, as shown in, the electronic devicemay determine that the element matching the input positionincludes only the digit “0” based on the fact that the first digit of the year has been input as “2”.

110 207 210 Accordingly, the electronic devicemay display an element, e.g., digit “0”, which matches the input positionin the first style in the input panel. In some embodiments, the elements displayed in the first style may be in a selectable state.

110 210 110 In some embodiments, the electronic devicemay also display other elements in the second style in the input panelto indicate that such other elements are in a non-selectable state. Alternatively, the electronic devicemay also hide these other elements, to reduce the user's interaction cost.

2 FIG.C 208 209 208 209 As another example, as shown in, an input positionand an input positionmay correspond to a first digit and a second digit of a month. After inputting the digit “1” to the input position, the input positionmay be switched to an input state, for example.

110 209 208 110 208 209 As an example, the electronic devicemay determine that the input positionis associated with the input position. Further, the electronic devicemay determine, based on an element (e.g., digit “1”) which has been input in the input position, a plurality of elements that match the input position, i.e., digit “0.” digit “1,” and digit “2”.

2 FIG.C 110 210 209 Accordingly, as shown in, the electronic devicemay present, in the input panel, a plurality of elements in the input panelthat match the input positionin the first style, such as digit “0”, digit “1”, and digit “2”.

110 140 210 In some embodiments, the electronic devicemay further receive a movement instruction input by the user via the controllerand may move an indicator (e.g., a cursor) between the digit “0”, the digit “1”, and the digit “2” in the input panelaccordingly.

2 FIG.C 110 For example, takingas an example, the electronic devicemay accordingly switch the position of the indicator among the selectable elements based on a received left movement instruction or right movement instruction. Such an indicator will not be displayed at other elements that are not selectable based on the received movement instruction, e.g., digit “3,” digit “4,” . . . , digit “9.”

In this way, the embodiments of the present disclosure may reduce the operation cost of the user for selecting a desired input element through a controller, thereby improving the efficiency of information input.

2 FIG.D 2 FIG.D 110 211 110 211 Further, as shown in, after completing the input of the plurality of input positions, the electronic devicemay set a confirmation buttonto the selectable state. Further, the electronic devicemay receive a trigger for the confirmation button, and may determine the target information to be input based on the input element in the plurality of input positions. Takingas an example, such target information may be obtained by combining digits input at a plurality of input positions, for example, “2021 Dec. 21”.

110 110 In some embodiments, the electronic devicemay further determine a constraint associated with the target information according to a preset condition. If the input target information does not satisfy the preset condition, the electronic devicemay also display a reminder message, for example.

110 In some embodiments, taking the date information as an example of the target information, such a constraint may comprise, for example, that an input date needs to be earlier or later than a preset date. When the input date does not satisfy the constraint, the electronic devicemay display the corresponding reminder message.

2 2 FIGS.A-D 210 110 210 In some embodiments, with reference to, the input panelin the electronic devicemay display a plurality of input elements according to a target layout. Such a target layout may result in any of the plurality of selectable elements in the target panelhaving a first adjacent element in the horizontal direction or a second adjacent element in the vertical direction.

2 FIG.C Takingas an example, the plurality of selectable elements includes digit “0”, digit “1”, and digit “2”. The three digits may be adjacently arranged in one horizontal row, so that the user can quickly select a digit to be input by moving left and right.

Considering that the controller (for example, the remote control device) usually only supports interaction in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, such a layout may ensure that the selectable element does not have a dislocation condition, thereby improving the rationality and convenience of the interactive operation.

It should be understood that although the input process of the target information has been described above with reference to the date information, the information input process is also applicable to input of other suitable types of information, for example, the input of serial numbers having a preset construction rule.

Additionally, while the above example describes the information input process of the present disclosure in terms of sequential input of elements in a plurality of positions as an example, the embodiments of the present disclosure may also support situations in which the input is performed in any other sequence. Continuing with the date as an example, the user may first input the second digit of the month and then input the first digit of the month. In this case, the candidate digit matching the first digit of the month may be determined based on the second digit that has been input.

Based on the above process, the embodiments of the present disclosure may enable the indicator to move among the elements in the predetermined set of elements when the user inputs information to the electronic device through the controller. Therefore, the embodiments of the present disclosure may reduce the number of selectable elements in the information input process and improve the efficiency of information input.

3 FIG. 1 FIG. 300 300 110 300 illustrates a flowchart of an example processof information input according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The processmay be implemented at the electronic device. The processis described below with reference to.

310 110 As depicted, at block, the electronic devicepresents an information input component in a display device, the information input component comprising a plurality of input positions for inputting different portions of information.

320 110 At block, in response to a first input position of the plurality of input positions being in an input state, the electronic devicedetermines a first set of elements matching the first input position from a plurality of elements associated with an input panel based at least on a first element which has been input at a second input position of the plurality of input positions.

330 110 At block, the electronic devicepresents the first set of elements in a first style in the input panel to indicate that the first set of elements are in a selectable state.

340 110 At block, the electronic devicemoves an indicator between the first set of elements displayed by the input panel based on a movement instruction received via a controller associated with the display device.

350 110 At block, in response to receiving an input instruction via the controller, the electronic deviceinputs a second element corresponding to the indicator to the first input position.

300 In some embodiments, the processfurther comprises: presenting a second set of elements of the plurality of elements different from the first set of elements in a second style in the input panel to indicate that the second set of elements are in a non-selectable state.

In some embodiments, the input panel displays the plurality of elements according to a target layout, causing: in response to a number of the first set of input elements being greater than one, any of the first set of input elements to have a first adjacent element in a horizontal direction and/or a second adjacent element in a vertical direction, the first adjacent element and the second adjacent element being comprised in the first set of elements.

300 In some embodiments, the processfurther comprises: determining the second input position associated with the first input position from the plurality of input positions.

In some embodiments, the first input position is configured to input a target portion of the information, and determining the second input position associated with the first input position from the plurality of input positions comprises: determining the second input position associated with the first input position from the plurality of input positions based on a correlation between the target portion and a further portion to be input at a further input position.

300 In some embodiments, the processfurther comprises: determining target information based at least on the input first element and second element; and in response to the target information not satisfying a predetermined condition, presenting a prompt message in the display device.

In some embodiments, the information input component comprises a date input component, and the plurality of input positions are configured to input different digits in a date.

4 FIG. 400 400 110 400 The embodiments of the present disclosure further provide a corresponding apparatus for implementing the above method or process.illustrates a schematic structural block diagram of an exemplary apparatusfor information input according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure. The apparatusmay be implemented as or included in the electronic device. Respective modules/components in the apparatusmay be implemented by hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.

400 FIG. 400 410 420 430 440 450 As shown in, the apparatuscomprises: a component presenting moduleconfigured to present an information input component in a display device, the information input component comprising a plurality of input positions for inputting different portions of information; an element determining moduleconfigured to in response to a first input position of the plurality of input positions being in an input state, determine a first set of elements matching the first input position from a plurality of elements associated with an input panel based at least on a first element which has been input at a second input position of the plurality of input positions; an element presenting moduleconfigured to present the first set of elements in a first style in the input panel to indicate that the first set of elements are in a selectable state; an element switching moduleconfigured to move an indicator between the first set of elements displayed by the input panel based on a movement instruction received via a controller associated with the display device; and an element input moduleconfigured to in response to receiving an input instruction via the controller, input a second element corresponding to the indicator to the first input position.

In some embodiments, the input panel displays the plurality of elements according to a target layout, causing: in response to a number of the first set of input elements being greater than one, any of the first set of input elements to have a first adjacent element in a horizontal direction and/or a second adjacent element in a vertical direction, the first adjacent element and the second adjacent element being comprised in the first set of elements.

430 In some embodiments, the element presenting moduleis further configured to: present a second set of elements of the plurality of elements different from the first set of elements in a second style in the input panel to indicate that the second set of elements are in a non-selectable state.

420 In some embodiments, the element determining moduleis further configured to: determine the second input position associated with the first input position from the plurality of input positions.

420 In some embodiments, the first input position is configured to input a target portion of the information, and the element determining moduleis further configured to: determine the second input position associated with the first input position from the plurality of input positions based on a correlation between the target portion and a further portion to be input at a further input position.

400 In some embodiments, the apparatusfurther comprises: a prompting module configured to determine target information based at least on the input first element and second element; and in response to the target information not satisfying a predetermined condition, presenting a prompt message in the display device.

In some embodiments, the information input component comprises a date input component, and the plurality of input positions are configured to input different digits in a date.

5 FIG. 5 FIG. 5 FIG. 1 FIG. 500 500 500 110 shows a block diagram of a computing devicethat may implement one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. It should be understood that the computing deviceshown inis merely exemplary and should not constitute any limitation on the functionality and scope of the embodiments described herein. The computing deviceshown inmay be used to implement the electronic devicein.

5 FIG. 500 500 510 520 530 540 1550 560 510 520 500 As shown in, the computing deviceis in the form of a general purpose computing device. Components of the computing devicemay include, but are not limited to, one or more processors or processing units, a memory, a storage device, one or more communication units, one or more input devices, and one or more output devices. The processing unitmay be a physical or virtual processor and may execute various processing based on the programs stored in the memory. In a multi-processor system, a plurality of processing units executes computer-executable instructions in parallel to enhance parallel processing capability of the computing device.

500 500 520 530 500 The computing deviceusually includes a plurality of computer storage mediums. Such mediums may be any attainable medium accessible by the computing device, including but not limited to, a volatile and non-volatile medium, a removable and non-removable medium. The memorymay be a volatile memory (e.g., a register, a cache, a Random Access Memory (RAM)), a non-volatile memory (such as, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), flash), or any combination thereof. The storage devicemay be a removable or non-removable medium, and may include a machine-readable medium (e.g., a memory, a flash drive, a magnetic disk) or any other medium, which may be used for storing information and/or data (e.g., training data for training) and be accessed within the computing device.

500 520 525 5 FIG. The computing devicemay further include additional removable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile storage mediums. Although not shown in, there may be provided a disk drive for reading from or writing into a removable and non-volatile disk (e.g., “floppy disk”) and an optical disc drive for reading from or writing into a removable and non-volatile optical disc. In such cases, each drive may be connected to a bus (not shown) via one or more data medium interfaces. The memorymay include a computer program producthaving one or more program modules, and these program modules are configured for performing various methods or acts of various embodiments of the present disclosure.

540 500 500 The communication unitimplements communication with another computing device via a communication medium. Additionally, functions of components of the computing devicemay be realized by a single computing cluster or a plurality of computing machines, and these computing machines may communicate through communication connections. Therefore, the computing devicemay operate in a networked environment using a logic connection to one or more other servers, a Personal Computer (PC) or a further general network node.

550 560 500 540 500 500 The input devicemay be one or more various input devices, such as a mouse, a keyboard, a trackball, a voice-input device, and the like. The output devicemay be one or more output devices, e.g., a display, a loudspeaker, a printer, and so on. The electronic devicemay also communicate through the communication unitwith one or more external devices (not shown) as required, where the external device, e.g., a storage device, a display device, and so on, communicates with one or more devices that enable users to interact with the computing device, or with any device (such as a network card, a modem, and the like) that enable the computing deviceto communicate with one or more other computing devices. Such communication may be executed via an Input/Output (I/O) interface (not shown).

According to the example implementations of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which computer-executable instructions are stored, wherein the computer-executable instructions are executed by a processor to implement the method described above. According to the example implementations of the present disclosure, a computer program product is further provided, which is tangibly stored on a non-transient computer-readable medium and includes computer-executable instructions, which are executed by a processor to implement the method described above.

Aspects of the present disclosure are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to implementations of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, may be implemented by computer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that may direct a computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the computer readable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises an article of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects of the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computer implemented process, such that the instructions which execute on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various implementations of the present disclosure. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, may be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.

The descriptions of the various implementations of the present disclosure have been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intended to be exhaustive or limited to implementations disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described implementations. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain the principles of implementations, the practical application or technical improvement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand implementations disclosed herein.